Sadie poured herself a glass of red wine, then sat on the king-sized hotel bed with her laptop. Seeing Carson again had brought up a whirlwind of emotions. Nothing could have prepared her for the moment they first made eye contact. The look on his ruggedly handsome face made her want to run back to South Carolina. Fat chance of that happening now. She’d agreed to take this assignment. Failure was not an option.
Besides, she’d never let Carson Savage have the satisfaction of scaring her off, even though he was more intimidating than ever. Sexier. More successful. She could already tell he was determined to challenge her every move…which made him more of an asshole. Taking a gulp of wine, she opened Skype and called Barbi.
Her best friend’s pretty face always made her smile. “Thought you forgot about me, girl.”
“Sorry I’m late, Barbi. I took a long bath and had a glass of wine after work.” She held up her half empty glass. “Wish you were here.”
“Me, too.”
In reality, Sadie’s hometown of Fairhope was only a thirty-minute drive away. There was no excuse for not inviting Barbi and Erika up for a visit this upcoming weekend. Barbi was just too good-natured to say anything, which made Sadie feel like crap. “Maybe after everything settles down you can take a drive this way.”
Barbi nodded with understanding. “Must have been a hell of a reunion.”
“If you call Carson embarrassing me in front of his team members and then cornering me in the hallway and demanding I have dinner with him tomorrow night a reunion, then yeah.” She set her wine glass on the nightstand, then repositioned herself on the bed, lying on her stomach and propping her head up on her hands. “These guys get paid millions of dollars and act like juvenile delinquents.” She reached for one of the files Coach Rangall had given her earlier. “Look at this.” She held up one of the pics. “Recognize anything?”
Barbi’s eyes widened. “Can you tilt the photo some?”
Sadie could do better than that, she held it in front of her face, filling her friend’s computer screen with the image.
“Oh. My. God! That’s Carson’s ass, isn’t it? I remember when he got that tat, after winning the state championship his sophomore year. How many times did our team moon everyone—didn’t Harp, Jonathan, Georgie, and Miguel get matching tattoos to commemorate that season?”
Sadie cringed. Their high school football team was the Fairhope Vipers. Carson, Harp, Jonathan, Georgie, and Miguel were known as the Front Five—comprising four of Carson’s offensive linemen and him. They were as cliquey as the characters from Mean Girls.
“Yes.” She lowered the picture and stared at Barbi. “Do you know how hard it was keeping a straight face in that classroom when I shared his pic?”
Barbi took a sip of her Red Bull. “I think his ass is a little more muscular though.”
Sadie couldn’t hold in the snort. “You always were an ass woman.”
“So are you!”
Having already committed Carson’s great posterior to memory, Sadie couldn’t disagree. But she wanted to talk about something else. Something to get her mind off the danger of falling apart over Carson, over being back in Alabama. “How did dinner go with Matthew?”
“No…you’re doing it again. Changing subjects because you’re uncomfortable.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know, Sadie. If you stayed at the retreat and completed the classes, you might know exactly what I mean. By the way, I rescheduled our holiday.”
“Excuse me?”
“In four months, we’re going back to the Red Horse Inn and finishing what we started.”
Not likely! If everything worked out in Alabama and Sadie landed the long-term contract for her company, she planned on rewarding herself with a long vacation in Europe—maybe touring Scotland and Ireland. “I’ll leave that to you and Erika.”
Barbi frowned.
“Now, are you going to tell me about Matthew?” Just because Sadie didn’t have a love life worth talking about, she could still live vicariously through her best friend, who never seemed to have a problem hooking up with quality men.
“We skipped dinner and ordered dessert in my room.”
“Dessert, huh?”
“Yeah—fondue—chocolate syrup and strawberries. You should have seen the look I got from the maid the next day when she showed up to change the sheets.”
“Let me guess, you didn’t exactly eat the strawberries?”
“Melted chocolate is great for finger painting. And Matthew’s body is quite the canvas.”
“Is that it?” Another thing Sadie had a hard time with—hooking up with a stranger for a one-night stand. Not that she hadn’t tried before. It just never worked out. The minute a man stuck his fingers under her panties or in her bra, she freaked out.
“No, he’s flying down next weekend.”
Sadie clapped her hands. “Finally!”
“Nothing serious—we’re just friends.”
“Okay. Friends. Like us.” Before Barbi could reply, Sadie’s hotel phone rang, startling the shit out of her. “I better get that.”
“Okay, girlfriend. Night.” Barbi blew her a kiss.
Sadie made it to the phone by the sixth ring. “Hello?”
“Hello, gorgeous.”
Carson. Her whole body went rigid. “What can I do for you, Mr. Savage?”
His deep-throated laughter made her skin prickle with angst and desire. “We’re still wrapped up in formalities, Kitty Kat?”
That nickname had been buried with their failed relationship. “Stop calling me Kitty Kat.”
“Why? It’s the only thing I have left of you, sweetheart.”
Frustrated by his persistence to not honor her request, she decided to simply end the conversation. “Goodnight, Carson.”
“Wait!”
“What?”
“I’m in the lobby.”
“Good for you.” She lowered the handset.
“Sadie. Don’t hang up.”
Weighing her options carefully, she’d give him a last chance to make his point. “I’m exhausted, Carson. We have an early morning, remember?”
“Give me five minutes.”
“Fine. I’m in room…” The line went dead.
Two minutes later, Carson knocked on the door. Forgetting to grab her robe, Sadie opened it. The intensity of his roving gaze reminded her of what she was wearing—or what she wasn’t wearing. Dressed in a silky camisole and matching shorts, she probably looked like she was ready to seduce him.
“Christ, Kitty Kat, is this your way of making up for lost time?”
Her cheeks flushed. “Go away, Carson.”
He shook his head and proceeded to invite himself inside the room.
If she caused a scene, someone might call security. She closed the door. “Make it quick, Carson.”
He groaned with satisfaction as he studied her again, then looked around the room. “This is a nice hotel.”
“Adequate accommodations,” she agreed, trying to sound detached. “Why are you here?”
“To make a friendly offer. Staying in a hotel can be uncomfortable, and my house is closer to the stadium, Sadie. I have a guesthouse.” Carson seemed to read her dark thoughts because he quickly added, “No expectations, sweetheart. Just seemed like the neighborly thing to do, since we’re old friends.”
She stared up at him. Those blue eyes were uncomfortably observant. Soul-reading eyes that had always made her feel like she was under constant scrutiny. “Old friends?” She snorted. “Honestly, thanks but no thanks, Carson. We need to establish boundaries.”
He raised a brow. “What kind of boundaries?”
“The kind where you respect me as a professional and quit trying to blur the lines between the past and present. If I could have avoided coming here, I would have.”
He rubbed his stubbled chin. “You expect me to pretend like we don’t have a long history? To treat you like a stranger?”
“Absolutely.”
“I don’t think I can do that, Kitty Kat.”
Having reached her limit, she swatted his chest. “I’m twenty-five, Carson, not fifteen! Stop calling me Kitty Kat.”
He leaned forward and brushed a stray hair off her face. “I don’t care if you’re sixty, Sadie. All I can remember when I look at you is the day we met. How you got stuck in that magnolia tree in front of the school trying to rescue the stray kitten. Turned out you needed saving, not the damn cat.”
She licked her lips. Why was he insisting on reliving the past? Highlighting what embarrassed her the most? Yes, she’d always been afraid of heights but decided to forget that fear in order to save a little orange kitten. She shook her head. “Someone called 911 before you got there,” she whispered.
“But I beat the fire truck, didn’t I?” he asked.
Yes, he had. At least fifty people had surrounded the tree by then, including half the football team. Carson ambled up the branches with little effort, successfully handed down the kitten, and then focused on her. Once they were safely on the ground, she nearly fainted. But he wrapped a steadying arm about her waist, then asked her on a date.
With his teammates in earshot, how could she refuse? When she accepted his invitation, the crowd cheered. In the span of five minutes, she went from being a nobody to being Carson’s girl. That’s how Kitty Kat was born.
“Stop focusing on the past, Carson. It makes my job harder.”
“Why? I think it should have the opposite effect. Knowing someone on the team will help get things done. Think of me as an anchor.”
“Anchor?” she repeated skeptically and laughed. “If anything, you’re a sore reminder of what I don’t want to deal with.”
“Ouch. Guess I deserved that.”
“You guess?”
“Correction. I deserved it.”
“Good. Now leave. Please.”
“Sadie.”
“Carson.” She thrust her hand on her hip.
“Tell me there’s a smidgen of hope for us to be friends.”
Sadie rolled her eyes. “Exes don’t make reliable friends.”
“How many exes do you have?”
“None of your business.”
He chuckled. “I like when you’re mad.”
“Have you been drinking, Carson?”
“I had a few beers.” He looked over her shoulder. “How many glasses of wine have you had?”
“Two.”
“Maybe we should head down to the hotel bar and have a cocktail, get reacquainted. Don’t you know drinking alone is bad for the soul?”
Temptation surrounded her again—just like it had in the media room earlier today. “A risk I’m willing to take.”
His smile faded. “How are you, Sadie? Happy?”
She had to think about it—which meant she wasn’t. Though she had a great job and a tolerable routine, something was missing. “I’m good, Carson. What about you? Is playing for the Warriors everything you thought it would be?”
“Almost everything.” He looked at her intently.
“I’m glad to hear it. So many people don’t get to fulfill their dreams.”
“We did,” he observed.
“Yes.”
“But not like Jack and Diane,” he added, referring to the classic John Cougar song he would always play when they were together in his car—claiming it had been written for them.
She smiled at the memory. “But you are a football star.”
“I’m something, Kitty Kat.” He stepped closer, and she held her breath.
“I’m tired,” she tossed out there hoping it would shield her from his overwhelming presence.
“Me, too,” he said.
“We finally agree on something!”
“I bet there’s a lot more we agree on, Kitty Kat. Maybe if you quit fighting it, stop being so defensive…we might have a chance of finding out.” He stared at the big bed.
“No,” she said flatly. “That’s not going to happen.”
“What?”
“You. Me. Us.”
He was close enough for her to feel his warm breath on her face. “Thinking we’ll have sex is a bit presumptuous, sweetheart. But if you insist.”
She stiff-armed him in the chest. “That wasn’t an invitation!”
He chuckled and backed up. “Can’t blame me for trying.” He wound a strand of her hair around his finger. “I’d never hurt you, Sadie.”
Their gazes met, and she felt like saying he already had. But that would only give him another reason to stay. Carson didn’t like loose ends. Just like she always had to maintain control. Age had only deepened her need for order. Carson represented the opposite, too many unknowns and chaos.
“I know,” she reluctantly admitted, knowing he wouldn’t purposely set out to hurt her. Underneath that bad boy façade was a compassionate man—he always had been.
“Coffee instead?” he asked.
“Caffeine will keep me up all night.”
“What are you talking about, Kitty Kat?” he asked innocently and winked at her. “Staying up never bothered you before. I remember you drank pots of coffee during finals and could never go to sleep after. How many days did you stay awake our senior year to study for the ACTs?”
“Three, I think.”
“I could never do that. I’m strictly eight hours a night.”
“Guess that’s my superpower,” she said.
“No. You have better ones.”
She arched a brow. “Like what?”
He swallowed and shoved his hand in his jeans pocket. “Rather not say.”
Admittedly, it wasn’t so bad talking with Carson. But all the reminiscing made her vulnerable, desperate to reconnect with her past. Which went against everything she’d worked so hard to forget. “It’s getting late…”
They moved at the same time, she for the door, Carson toward Sadie.
“I need to touch you, Kitty Kat.” He tugged her against his body, enveloping her in a possessive hug.
The minute they touched, her traitorous body sparked to life. Even after all these years she felt right in his arms. She sighed heavily, realizing with one word she could have him naked and in her bed. Then she’d have something to tell Barbi. Carson had always been an amazing, considerate lover. He’d been her first. And a girl never forgets that. But her heart and mind strongly disagreed on what she should do next. Just because he made her wet, it didn’t mean she could forget everything. She’d worked too hard to create a new life away from Alabama—away from him. “Let me go, Carson.” She tried to push him away.
“Sadie…”
“No,” she admonished. “Please leave.”
His fingers lingered over the back of her neck. “There’s a lot I need to say.”
“It can wait.” He needed to go.
He pulled back far enough to gaze into her eyes. “You can’t cheat fate, Sadie.”
“Fate?” She clicked her tongue. “This is a coincidence, Carson. I work for the best PR firm in the Southeast. Your boss chose us because he wanted real solutions for his team.”
He finally let go. “When did you become so jaded, Sadie?”
“The day I left Fairhope.”
He nodded. “Goodnight, sweetheart.” He opened the door and then paused with his back to her. “By the way, the next time I come to your room, might want to put my ass shot back in your folder.”